Support grows for U.S. LNG exports

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. government needs to embrace a policy that prioritizes domestic energy resources like gas as an economic driver, the American Chemistry Council said.

The ACC called for a market-orientated strategy that puts domestic energy resources at the forefront of an economic growth policy.

"The (council's) executive committee unanimously expressed its opposition to any new export bans or restrictions on liquefied natural gas such as a moratorium on export terminals or the prohibition on the export of natural gas produced on public lands," a statement from the group read.

The ACC also called for policy that doesn't oversubscribe to one energy source. The group was critical this week of budget proposals outlined by U.S. President Barack Obama. Obama said he feared legislative decisions on the national budget may cut into renewable energy programs.

The ACC this week backed a proposal from U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that calls for more domestic drilling to become independent from Middle East oil by 2020.

Franz Matzner, associate director of government affairs for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Murkowski's proposals read like a "cut-and-paste job" from the fossil fuels industry.

New technology used to extract oil and natural gas from shale formations has led to a production boom in the United States, which gets most of its oil imports from North American suppliers.